African Shea Butter for Natural Skin Care
Pure Organic Shea Butter Used in Creams, Lotions, Shampoo and More
Sep 25, 2009
Natural skin care is a tricky business - so many products claim to be "natural" and "organic" but contain all the dreaded chemicals that can do harm. Getting down to basics means finding skin care solutions that depend on natural ingredients – plant moisturizers that have been used for hundreds of years. Shea butter is one of these natural skin care necessities.
What is Shea Butter?
Shea butter is a product of the shea tree, Vitellaria paradoxa. The tree grows throughout equatorial and sub-Saharan Africa, where the tasty fruit is harvested annually for food, and the pits or shea nuts are saved for their fatty oils and shea butter, a thick, waxy white or yellow paste.
The nuts or stones of the shea tree fruit are crushed and boiled until the oil can be separated from the nut meat. The crushing, boiling and separating of the shea is traditionally women's work and continues to be done mostly by African women.
Shea Butter for Hair and Skin Care
According to the experts at Shea Butter Market, this natural moisturizer and emollient has been used for skin care, hair care, and as food for over 2,000 years by the people of Ghana and other parts of sub-Saharan Africa. Shea butter is edible as well as being a great moisturizer.
- In West African countries, the butter is used as cooking oil and in certain religious ceremonies.
- The oil can be used to condition drums and other skin and leather products.
- The butter also turns up in some chocolates as a replacement for cocoa butter.
Its most well-known use worldwide, however, is for cosmetic purposes in natural skin care. Shea butter has become widely known in North America, Asia and Europe for its soothing and revitalizing skin care properties. The butter is high in vitamins A, D, and E, and fatty acids similar to the skin's natural oils. As a result, it turns up increasingly often in natural products.
Using Shea Butter in Natural Skin Care
Search any cosmetic or personal care department at the health food store – and increasingly at mainstream supermarkets – and there are likely to be plenty of products with shea butter.
- Shea butter soap: The oil cannot be fully saponified, so these soaps contain small amounts of shea oil and are usually very moisturizing.
- Hair products: Anything from specialty shampoo to styling agents and hair moisturizers, especially products marketed to black women.
- Natural skin care products: Shea is famed for its nourishing and healing properties to the skin, with claims ranging from healing stretch marks, wrinkles and rashes to scars and psoriasis. As a result, it turns up in a wide range of beauty and skin care products.
- Lip balm: Said to heal chapped lips and protect against sun damage.
- Skin acne treatment: Acne is often caused by skin dryness and irritation, so a rich moisturizer like shea butter can sometimes help with acne and other skin conditions.
In addition, it's becoming popular to combine aromatherapy oils with pure, unrefined shea butter to make personalized skin creams and lotions. Essential oils like lavender, tea tree, rose and myrrh add delicate fragrance and skin-soothing properties, but as always, the purity of the essential oils is very important in any product intended for use on the skin.
Reference
- Mercola, Joseph, "USDA Certified Organic Body Butter," Mercola.com, 2009.
- Natural Healthcare Canada (NHC), "Shea," NaturalHealthcareCanada.ca, 2009.
- Shea Butter Market, "Shea Butter: The Manufacturing Process," SheaButterMarket.com, 2009.
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